A protected landscape area in the northern part of Bohemia, covering the sandstone landscape of Kokořínsko and the area around Mácha Lake, with an area of 410 km².
Kokořínsko – Máchův kraj Protected Landscape Area covers an area of 410 km². The terrain ranges in elevation from 175 to 614 metres. A smaller part of the area extends into the Ústí nad Labem Region, while the Liberec Region and the Central Bohemian Region share most of the territory in almost equal parts.[1]
History and designation
The original Kokořínsko Protected Landscape Area was declared on 12 April 1976. In 2014, specifically on 28 August, it was newly declared and extended under the name Kokořínsko – Máchův kraj.[1] The extended area consists of two non-contiguous territorial units. The first is the Kokořínsko part, with an area of 274 km², which corresponds to the original delimitation of 1976 with an extension near the Dolanský rybník pond. The second is the Máchův kraj part, with an area of 136 km², which includes the newly delimited territory of Dokesko, previously unprotected.[1]
Part of Máchův kraj was for several decades inaccessible to ordinary visitors because a military training area was located there.[2]
Character of the landscape
The highest point of the area is the hill Vlhošť, 614 metres high, located in the Liberec Region. The lowest point is the floodplain of the Liběchovka stream near Želízy, at 175 metres, lying in the Central Bohemian Region.[1]
The landscape is shaped by diverse sandstone rocks. According to the regional administration, this romantic scenery attracted a number of notable figures, and the name Máchův kraj ("Mácha's Land") was adopted after one of the Romantic poets. The names Dubá and Mšeno Switzerland were also used formerly.[1]
On the slopes of the rocky valleys, selective weathering of sandstone layers of differing resistance produced bizarre rock formations, including the Giant's Head, the Frog, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the Pokličky ("Lids"). The Pokličky appear in the logo of the protected landscape area. They are best developed in the Kokořínský důl Nature Reserve, which, with an area of more than 2,000 hectares, is among the largest nature reserves in the Czech Republic.[1]
Some rock formations were modified by people for practical reasons, creating the rock dwellings Staráky and Nedamy and the Hlučov rock mill. Other modifications were artistic in character, such as the sculptures by Václav Levý in the surroundings of Želízy. Besides sandstone rocks, which also include rock arches, windows, pseudokarren and honeycomb weathering, the landscape's dominant features also include isolated intrusions of igneous rock from the Tertiary period, for example the Housecké vrchy hills, Vlhošť, Ronov and Korecký vrch.[1]
Nature conservation
The protected landscape area contains 30 small-scale specially protected areas: 3 national nature reserves, 2 national nature monuments, 7 nature reserves and 18 nature monuments. It is part of the Natura 2000 network with 9 sites of European importance and 1 bird area.[1]
Tourism
Since the 19th century Kokořínsko has been sought out by tourists for its picturesque quality and the raw character of its rock formations. Visitors are drawn by castles and ruins, the surfaces of ponds, and views from rocky summits.[2]
The protected landscape area also includes Mácha Lake, around which tourism is heavy in the summer months thanks to the opportunities for swimming. Other bodies of water offer recreation outside the summer season as well; at the Novozámecký rybník pond an elevated ornithological observation tower was built for observing waterfowl.[2]